


Winter Rain

by Wallwalker



Series: Our Haven [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, F/M, Fluff, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 10:19:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/584302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallwalker/pseuds/Wallwalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say it never rains in the slums, but that's not quite true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter Rain

They say it never rains below the Plate, but that's not really true. The rain still falls, and yes, a lot of it gets captured on the surface to help alleviate the city's ever-growing need for water, but they can't get all of it. The runoff has to go somewhere. Most of it's piped down to the sewers directly, but Shinra doesn't do the best job maintaining the pipelines, and there are always leaks.

Tifa's apartment is close to a leak, although not close enough that she has to worry about it destroying the roof. It's enough that when it rains up above, some of the water patters against the roof and splatters against the window. It doesn't sound like the rainstorms that Barret remembers from when he was a kid, but it's close, if you don't pay too much attention.

The apartment's cold; Tifa has to pick and choose what to pay for, and heat's usually the first to go. But she has electricity to run the stove, and she can boil enough water to make them each a mug of cheap tinned hot chocolate. She likes to say that one day she'll go to Wall Market and see if she can get milk and sugar and real cocoa, and make the sort of hot chocolate that she remembers drinking back at home. It's a nice thought, although they both know that those are luxuries in the slums of Midgar, and if they ever did have the money they'd probably need to spend it on something else.

The two of them settle on the couch, the big and slightly torn-up thing that she's covered with a few old bedsheets to make it look more presentable. If Marlene had been awake she would've joined them, giggling and demanding a few sips from each of their mugs, but she was fast asleep in the other room; Barret's just finished checking on her, and she looks so peaceful that he couldn't wake her, not even for chocolate. So it's just the two of them, Tifa reaching back over the couch for her second-best blanket, Barret carefully leaning back and tightly holding on to his mug. He doesn't want to spill it, especially once Tifa sits back down and spreads the blanket over them both; he feels awkward holding it so close to where she's sitting, but he doesn't want to sit with his other arm next to her. That much metal never feels anything but cold down here.

Tifa doesn't complain, though, just nudges his arm gently out of the way as she spreads the blanket over them both, then leans back and holds her own mug below her chin, breathing in the almost-chocolately scent of it. She'll snuggle in closer when the chocolate's gone, and maybe - if Marlene's still asleep - she'll push herself up and kiss him, and they'll have some time to themselves. Or maybe Marlene will wake up, and she'll come out and join them, and they'll sit and listen to the rain and tell a few of her favorite stories. But right now, there's cocoa to drink, and he feels warmer already.


End file.
